Gardeners' Notes:

Handsome, sculptural, and exotic. The bloom is a gothic delight and the smell really isn’t that strong or long lasting. Ours are planted in bright shade and grow just a bit too well in our SC yard. We planted several large corms a couple of years ago and already need to remove pups. Now I know why it’s so readily found on eBay!

I have had these for over 50 years, I now have ten blomming and about 60 plants, see them on facebook pleas martin but they do smell bad. if anyone wants one please contact me at [email protected] I hope I am not overwhelmed by this offer.

I purchased this two years ago, fascinated by its giant leaf. At that time it only had one large stalk but a month or so later 2 or 3 baby bulbs sent up small stalks. It completely died back to the ground in the fall, but having researched it I assumed correctly it would come up the following year. This spring I finally got a beautiful flower, but when it died back to the ground I thought it was a goner. However, a month or so later the baby bulbs starting sending up small stalks and there are now six. Six or eight weeks later the main bulb came up nice and tall, although its leaf is smaller this year which I assume is because it put so much energy into the bloom. I keep it amongst some ferns that hide it during the winter dormant period.

I received 2 corms this spring, 1 very tiny and 1 about 2.5 in. across. Planted in Miracle Gro and both came up. I've had them outside here in NE. since after last front. But I now have some sort of problem with the littler one .. it is turning yellowish-lime instead of the beautiful dark lime they both were. In searching for answers as to what it could be, I looked first at temp and then water for soil conditions & was telling my husband that it must be that it wasn't getting enough water consistently enough when he reminded me that they were both growing in the same pot! Duh! But ... it is a mystery to me. I added some plant food and a new covering of soil so it is deeper. I will probably go move "them" back even further into the shade as they did get filtered sun and its been VERY... read more hot here.
Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing the baby one to yellow? The leaves aren't curled or anything like that .. to me it looks like a plant looks when not enough of whatever nutrition it needs, but I don't know.
Thanks for any suggestions. Joyce Simmerman

We started with a bulb and had a multiple branched small tree the first season, this year the plant came up as shown, large stalk with a single leaf like a large tulip, It has now begun to smell terrible, Does anyone know if this plant morphs into another plant after a few seasons?

My family has grown Hydrosme Riveiri for many years. Several have had bulbs that fit snuggly in 5 gal. pails when they began their bloom cycle indoors in winter. I have 5 large bulbs 8 to 10 years old each. My oldest bulb, 14 years old has not yet sent up its summer growth and I have some doubt it will for it threw a double bloom this past winter. History of the line my family has indicates that when a bulb throws a double, it is its last hurrah so to speak.

One funny occurrence happened in back in 1956 when we donated an 8-years old bulb to the Dayton Museum of Natural History as it was beginning its winter bloom cycle. They were warned that the bloom would have an odor when it opened so they found a suitable location in the room in which they housed their live animals... read more. However, the day it did, the director opened up in the morning as usual and then spent the next 20 to 30 minutes checking for dead animals that the others had missed for a few days.

These interesting bulbs are a conversation piece to those walking past our home as we have some in a bed next to our front porch and others in planters on the side of the steps.

I'm relatively new to the gardening world, and am more full of questions than answers. I bought a house two years ago and was given several plants when I moved in. Being very busy at the time I randomly planted them around the yard. Well this year I have a bloom forming that I believe is the Voodoo Lily Amorphophallus rivieri. I've attached the first picture I just took and will add more as it developes. If anybody can confirm that this is this plant, I would appreciate it greatly. And secondly, are there any specific precautions I should take in moving the plant? Do they have long roots?

I have planted this plant for over 10 years. It is fascinating to watch it grow. I plant them very close together in my flower bed or in pots on the deck. I dig them up in the fall and plant them in May/June. I have 4 big bulbs that bloom in the winter. Very pretty flower, but it really stinks. I just cover it with a plastic bag. A friend leaves his plants out all winter, but they are planted up close to his basement. His plant will bloom in May and then it grows the folage. I have a bulb that will fill a 5 gallon bucket. I have measured this plant growing and it will grow an inch a day, sometimes more.They are fun to watch grow. They also multiply I have had up to 80 bulbs at one time. I have pictures if you are interested in seeing them. Just let me know. Easy to grow, Needs no special c... read moreare or watering. Plant and forget it. Thanks for letting me share this with you. Carol

Last spring we had one of these growing on a side table in the dining room. One day my son and I came home for lunch and I smelled a disgusting odour as soon as we sat down to eat. Naturally, I blamed the little guy and started reprimanding him for making stinks at the table. He insisted that he didn't have to go, and that the stink was not coming from him! Then we noticed the plant. The voodoo lily had bloomed and was the source of the offending stench! Of course I appologized to my son and we took the stinky thing to the school for show-and-tell. The kids loved it! Everyone made faces and "Eew! Gross!" comments then came back giggling for more. The teachers looked it up on the internet and integrated it into their lessons. I planted it later, and it grew into the palm tree shaped plant b... read moreut it died while we were on vacation. Yesterday I bought a new one, and one for my sister. They must be quite popular here because I have been visiting the store weekly looking for them and still took the last two voodoos on the shelf!

Potted can be sunken into a water garden or bulbs can be planted directly into the soil. They are very frost sensitive, and should be lifted dried and stored during the winter. Even if grown in a tropical climate they will enter a dormant phase.

Grown as a food crop in parts of the world; leaf stalk is mottled pink with green, very beautiful unusual foliage. Mature tubers can weigh up to 50 lbs.

Konjac is the easiest of all the amorphaphallus species to grow for novices, and usually stays at a manageable height. As with many of the arum species, the flowers have a very disagreeable odor to attract pollinating flies.